I was reminded of Sun Microsystems' Scott McNealy's infamous sound byte (used as the title of this article) when I read about Google CEO Eric Schmidt's foot-in-mouth moment during a recent CNBC interview (YouTube Link). Here's what Schmidt said: "I think judgment matters. If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines -- including Google -- do retain this information for some time and it's important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities."

That doesn't mean IT is right. Privacy is more of an illusion than a reality with or without the Patriot Act. People act like it's something new - they have been able to tap phone lines long before the internet was a glimmer in Al Gore's eye (ahem). As for individuality - it has nothing to do with what you do or who you do it with. It is an innate characteristic. You were born unique. It is only when you start to imitate your friends and idols that you lose that uniqueness. It is not taken away by society, but is freely given away by you. Like he said "get over it" and if you don't want someone to know something personal, don't post it on Facebook or your blog.